History
Competition from the "Big Three," new safety regulations and two energy crises in 1973-74 and again in 1979, left American Motors in a weak position in the U.S. marketplace. The company had three product lines: a profitable line of government vehicles, Jeeps, and passenger cars. However, when sales dropped suddenly in 1979 and all of the U.S. automakers saw their sales plummet, AMC faltered.
That year, AMC signed an agreement with Renault of France giving that company a share in AMC's ownership, in exchange for the rights to sell Renault cars in the U.S. Later, Renault acquired a controlling interest, and thus was born what some called "Franco-American Motors." With the United States dollar then relatively weak against the French franc, manufacturing in the U.S. seemed the best way to grow especially since fuel prices were rising and the major U.S. carmakers had yet to bring out large numbers of small, fuel-efficient cars.
The two automakers worked closely as each design studio developed spin-offs of cars created by the other. Richard Teague, AMC's Vice President of Design, and his French counterpart, Robert Opron, director of Renault Styling, each traveled between France and the U.S. at least three times a year. Originally only a four-door sedan body style, Teague and AMC's design staff decided to mock-up a two-door coupe just before Opron was to review the work of the American team.
Renault executives came in to run things alongside AMC officials, and the former Nash Motors factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin was retooled to produce an Americanized version of the European Renault 9 subcompact under the Alliance nameplate. Consumer clinics were conducted between 1979 and 1982 using a fiberglass mockup (and later with actual cars) to evaluate various issues that concerned AMC officials. The market research found that consumers preferred the Renault name over AMC, though not strongly. The model was named the Renault Alliance, with the AMC name featured on a small window sticker and at the end the advertising material.
The cars were aimed at the lowest price range in the U.S. market, the Alliance had a sticker price starting at $5,995. (US$13,989 in 2012 dollars)
Read more about this topic: Renault Alliance
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